Week 9 Space + Art

As Professor Vesna said, the week’s discussion on space and art is a combination of nanotechnology, biotechnology, mathematics, robots, etc. Some of these aspects were illustrated in the video Powers of Ten. It is a film dealing with relative size of things in the universe. Starting at a picnic by the lakeside in Chicago, this film transports us to a speck of light among many others. Returning to Earth with breathtaking speed, we move inward into the hand of human beings with ten times more magnification every ten seconds. The journey ends inside a proton of a carbon atom within a DNA molecule in a cell. The online lecture videos and readings provide me with the information about the history of developments in space, Copernicus’ idea of the solar system, as well as the development of the atomic bomb, the arms race, and the space wars. This week’s topic also involves different aspects such as politics, science, and popular cultures.

Powers of ten
When I was taking Chinese history class, I read that the ancient Chinese though the sky is a hemisphere and the ground is a square. It did not surprise me since the technologies we have today were not available at that time. However, it was impressive when I learned Copernicus’s idea of solar system dates back into 1512 because I used to think it was a newer idea. His contribution sets the stage for future discoveries and innovations that we are able to know today. He stated that the sun was in the middle of the solar system. Even though his idea is a little off, it is still considered as a notable idea at that time since modern technologies were not available. As a mechanical engineering student, I am always taught to apply the technologies at the cutting edge to explore the unknown world. After viewing this video, I realize that exploring an unknown field might not always require advanced technologies.

Ancient Chinese people's idea about the shape of the earth

Copernican heliocentrism

It also has influence on government and political notions with the development of the arms race when the Soviet Union invented the Atomic Bomb and Sputnik. These had a profound effect on the thinking of people all over the world. After that, space wars also contributed to the notion that involved launching dogs and humans to space. It lead to the end of the constellation program and each country started to explore space on their own.

Sputnik 1 spacecraft artificial satellite

Meanwhile, it is noted that the chronological events related to space also affected popular culture and artist alike. For instance, a new media interdisciplinary artist named Richard Clar collaborated with the Naval Research Laboratory and other related partners to generate projects that transform state-of-the-art technology into contemporary art. Another example is that a Swiss-American artist called Arthur Woods created a sculpture called the Cosmic Dancer that was realized in a space habitat. His goal was to investigate the properties of sculpture in weightlessness and evaluate the intersection of art and space.

Cosmonaut Alexander Polischuk and the Cosmic Dancer

Above all, space is a place where everything comes together. it provides us knowledge about mathematics, biotechnologies, nanotechnologies, etc. On the opposite side, we also need all these pieces of knowledge to explore deeper into space.


References

"Cosmic dancer - a space art intervention by arthur woods." Cosmic Dancer Photos: Mir Space Station: Arthur Woods. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 June 2017.
www.cosmicdancer.com/cosmic_dancer_photos.php.

"Copernican heliocentrism." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 05 May 2017. Web. 04 June 2017. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copernican_heliocentrism.

Eames, Ray. "Powers of Ten - Icon Magazine." Icon magazine: Architecture and design culture - Icon Magazine. N.p., 06 Oct. 2013. Web. 04 June 2017.

Eames, Ray. " Powers of Ten™." YouTube, uploaded by Eames Office, 26 August 2010, www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fKBhvDjuy0.

Vesna, Victoria. " Space intro." YouTube, uploaded by Uconlineprogram, 26 March 2012, www.youtube.com/watch?v=zzN08A6UBoo.

Vesna, Victoria. " 8 space intro 1280x720." YouTube, uploaded by Uconlineprogram, 29 July 2013, www.youtube.com/watch?v=2dPAmpBiVHY.

Vesna, Victoria. " 8 space pt1 1280x720." YouTube, uploaded by Uconlineprogram, 29 July 2013, www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZIqTR332l8.

Vesna, Victoria. " 8 space pt2 1280x720." YouTube, uploaded by Uconlineprogram, 29 July 2013, www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLZMDpoP-u0.

Williams, David R., Dr. "" Sputnik 1 – NSSDC ID: 1957-001B" - NASA." NASA. N.p., 21 Mar. 2017. Web. 4 June 2017. nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraftDisplay.do?id=1957-001B.

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